The Slovak Republic's Rádio Expres and Romania's PRO TV will receive this year's NAB International Broadcasting Excellence Award at the NAB Show All-Industry Opening Keynote, Monday, April 20.
The awards recognize international broadcasters who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and uniqueness in successfully serving their audience through broadcast innovation or service to their community.
PRO TV, Romania's first private TV station, developed four major social campaigns in the past two years. The "There's life after death" campaign contributed to Romania's 50 percent increase in organ donation, while the "Romania, the big land clearing" campaign addressed the ecological consequences of land stripping. Additionally, PRO TV organized "STOP torturing the animals," a campaign initiated by PRO TV anchors and hosts that facilitated the development and passage of the nation’s Animal Protection Law in 2008. PRO TV's other initiative, "Any idea what your kid is doing right now," led to new legislation regarding the protection of abandoned children in Romania.
For this effort and its news coverage on the issue, PRO TV received the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' International Emmy Award for News and Current Affairs, the first news Emmy for Romania and Eastern Europe.
Bratislava's Rádio Expres informed its community about Slovak Republic adoption procedures through radio broadcasts and investigative reporting. Despite the large number of prescreened families waiting to adopt a child, hundreds of orphans were left in state care because nursing homes failed to effectively carry out steps in the adoption process. In 2008, close to 1 million Slovaks tuned in to hear Rádio Expres report on the situation.
Rádio Expres generated more coverage on this issue by convincing a member of the Social Parliamentary Committee to publicly investigate the nursing homes. Additionally, an employee at Rádio Expres spearheaded a petition that was later signed by thousands of Slovaks, leading to the creation of new legislation that improved the adoption process of Slovak children under state care.
